RHINOCEROS-HUNTING 



body give the departing rhino a foolish appearance, nevertheless 

 it is covering ground at remarkable speed. When the rhino is 

 approaching at either a walk or trot, it loses considerable of its 

 clumsy appearance and gives the hunter the impression of 

 being a vicious and sinister beast. With these animals there 

 seems to be no regular breeding season, as we noticed all stages 

 of young, from the recently bom to almost adult rhinos. Several 

 times I saw mothers, when alarmed and retreating, guide and 

 push the young one with their front horns. 



The bull has a shorter but thicker front horn than the cow, 

 but the rear horns of both sexes seemed about the same in 

 circumference and length. Rhinos with the front horn extend- 

 ing straight out from the nose, as well as freaks with as many 

 as five horns, have been killed in this portion of Africa. Al- 

 though we saw numbers of rhinos, the section of the country 

 which we were hunting in did not seem favorable for the growth 

 of long horns. Notwithstanding the fact that we shot the best 

 specimens we encountered, the front horn did not exceed twenty 

 inches, and the rear horn half of that length, in any of them. 

 In some portions of the country the horns of the cows reach 

 enormous lengths, front horns measuring fifty-four inches hav- 

 ing been secured. 



The body of the rhino is compact and solid, and the short 

 legs and spongy, three-toed feet seem ridiculously small for the 

 support of such an enormous weight. With its small, pig-like 

 eyes, prehensile nose, polished black horns, thick-folded skin, 

 and great size, the rhino, on its native heath, reminds one of 

 a beast from some former age stubbornly contesting its exist- 

 ence in the altered conditions of the present. Owing to the 

 ease with which it can be approached and shot, its unsociabil- 

 ity, and its size, the rhinoceros is slowly but surely disappear- 

 ing before civilization and modem firearms. 



One hot February morning found our column making a forced 

 march through an acacia-covered country between two small 



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